By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
INDEPENDENCE
The city of Independence took the next step to getting a new and improved Goodwill store at their regular council meeting. The new store will be located on a corner lot between McCullum and Ky 17, at 148 Courthouse Crossing, so it has had to qualify for the Planned Unit Development, or PUD, overlay. A representative from PDS was present, and they told council that Goodwill has been great to work with and they have met all the standards required by the PUD and other zoning.
The president and CEO of Goodwill of Southwest Ohio was at the meeting to answer any questions. He told council that their present location is under new ownership and they have raised the rent, prompting the company to take another look at the new store plans they had. Council approved the finalized plan for the new store, 4-2, with Council members Greg Steffen and Greg Waite voting no.
A proclamation was read honoring Simon Kenton Senior Alexis Howard who has excelled in track and field as well as her soccer team. April 7 was declared Alexis Howard day in the city.
Another proclamation was read declaring April as Fair Housing month.
A resolution passed which allowed Mayor Christopher Reinersman to extend the contract with Malco services for the city. CAO Chris Moriconi told council this is only the first extension of this particular contract.
An executive order passed which appointed Debbie Mitchell to the Senior Board.
A 2012 Ford F550 was declared surplus and will be listed on Govdeals.com.
EDGEWOOD
Mayor John Link gave an update on the legislative session in Frankfort, saying Senate Bill 9 was changed a lot, which is the bill about Air B+B, and there is some expectation that the bill could be passed at the very last minute, although so many cities are against the bill. He also talked about the Kentucky League of Cities, who have held meetings to try and explain the bills as well as their efforts to protect local rule for the cities.
Fire Chief Tom Dickman told council that the Fire Department will be checking the fire hydrants for flows and flushing them at the same time. This can cause some cloudy water for residents, but running the water should clear it up.
General Services Director Rick Lunnemann reminded council how Rob Begnoche had won the annual equipment Roadeo for Public Works, and he went on to win State in Skid Steer, but when they went to the Regional contest, for some reason they eliminated the Skid Steer, so Begnoche competed in the Back Hoe and the Excavator contests and came in third, for which he received a trophy.
Lunnemann also explained about the project to replace the street signs due to rust and fading. He said the goal is to take all the signs on the inbound side of the street, and the poles that are not up to standard. The poles have to be breakaway, so they have to be re-mounted. Another goal is to eliminate sign clutter. The plan is to install stop signs on the same pole as the street signs. Initial cost estimate is about $50,000 for 44 signs in the first quadrant. The second year they will replace 61 signs for a cost estimate of $73,000, and the third year they will replace 47 signs at a cost of $56,500, and the fourth year they will replace 38 signs at a cost of $45,500. The total cost for all four quadrants is $225,000.
ERLANGER
Once again at the regular Erlanger council meeting, council voted to remove legislation from the agenda pertaining to a significant raise in pay for the mayor of the city, plus a raise in pay for the council members. The subject was introduced earlier this year, and then tabled in March for further discussion at a caucus meeting.
Even though the legislation was removed, former councilmember Corine Pitts stood up to speak about the matter. She said council member Tyson Hermes proposed the raise, and at the last meeting told council that his ‘end game’ was to ‘have a full time mayor and reduce council members down to 6,’ a plan that engenders mistrust among some councilmembers and residents. She said increasing the mayor’s salary to almost double the current $15,000 is excessive, and if they want to increase the salary she thought $17,000 would be more than adequate. Pitts brought up the staff that the mayor already has, a City Administrator, an Assistant City Administrator, and many others who are already taking care of the city’s affairs.
At the last meeting Council member Hermes distributed information on what the Kentucky League of Cities has on the salaries of other mayors of comparable size cities in the state, and he said he wanted to move the salary more toward the averages by re-allocating savings to make the salary $27,000 now. All cities do try to keep their leaders’ salaries comparable to the averages of other cities in the area.
There is a Kentucky law that says a city’s legislative body must set the compensation of elected city officers by ordinance by the first Monday in May before the election, and that law could be a factor in this case if it is put off much longer.
The business spotlight this month was on Boone Kenton Lumber. Owner Gene Works talked about how his father started the business in 1959, and it is a full service lumber supplier.
TAYLOR MILL
Taylor Mill commissioners officially renamed a portion of Wayman Branch Road to High Ridge Court.
The city received a land and water grant for Pride Park, and Mayor Daniel Bell explained what the $250,000 will be used for. There will be repaving of the already paved trails, which hasn’t been done in 30 plus years, so $90,000 will go to repaving, and the rest will be spent on two pickleball courts in the park.
Commissioners approved two separate SD1 cost share projects, where the city agrees to pay a third of the cost, the resident pays a third and SD1 pays a third. City Administrator Brian Haney said the first project will cost the city $2320, and the second will cost $3974.
The second reading of an ordinance passed which provided a sidewalk exemption for Cahill Planned Unit Development.